Although former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort is slated to take on Rich Franklin at UFC 103 on September 19, he's already looking forward to a potential showdown with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.
"Anderson is a great friend of mine and a big champion but I'm looking for this (fight to happen)," Belfort told OUL Esporte of Brazil. "I cannot comment much on this right now but yeah, I always want to fight the best fighters. Of course it won't be a pleasure (being Silva's friend) but there isn't another way at all in the sport. Kaka and Ronaldinho (Brazilian soccer players) are friends and have faced each other many times. It is part of my work and I need it to afford milk to the children at home."
Belfort hasn't set foot inside an Octagon since he dropped a split decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 51 back in February of 2005, however that didn't stop UFC President Dana White from wanting to bring back one of the most talented fighters they have employed.
Silva is fresh off his dominating 3:23 second knockout of former champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 in a light heavyweight bout. After that performance, there aren't many jumping at the chance to take on MMA's most efficient striker, however Belfort says that he is down.
"It would be a great honor to fight Anderson," Belfort respectfully stated. "He's one of the best to ever fight and I want to test my skills against the world's best."
After reports last week that Fedor Emelianenko's Strikeforce debut would be in October, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated during last Saturday night's Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg post-event press conference that his debut is "probably going to be in November".
Coker shot down a rumor that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez was being considered for the fight, saying that "it was never even talked about". He stated that his opponent would likely be Brett Rogers or Fabricio Werdum, and later stated that Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem was also a possibility, if he is recovered from his hand injury.
"I definitely think there's two guys here that would be a quality opponent for Fedor," Coker said of Rogers and Werdum, who were at the press conference.
"I think Brett Rogers is one of the guys we have to take a serious look at," he continued. "And Fabricio (Werdum) looked great tonight. I think on any given day he could do his thing."
Rogers, who is coming off of a 22 second first-round knockout victory over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski in June, told that he didn't think that he would end up getting the fight. Werdum, who needed just 1:24 to defeat Mike Kyle by submission last Saturday night, noted that he was up for the fight if it were presented to him.
"It's up to Mr. Scott (Coker)," Werdum stated. "Whoever Scott tells me to fight, I'm going to fight."
He went on to joke that he isn't quite ready for the fight yet, stating, "The athletic commission says for seven days I can't fight. After that, no problem."
Meanwhile, mixed martial arts fans won't have to wait long to see "The Last Emperor" in action. Emelianenko will face newly crowned Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi in an exhibition sparring match at M-1 Global: Breakthrough on August 28.
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on August 15, 2009. The event aired live on the Showtime cable network and marked the first time two women headlined an event in Strikeforce history.
Below are the results for the event:
Preliminary Card
Alex Trevino def. Isaiah Hill by submission (keylock) at 3:56 of Round 1
James Terry def. Zak Bucia by TKO (head kick and punches) at 1:23 at Round 1
Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:16 of Round 3
Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook by TKO (punch to the Body) at 2:05 of Round 1
Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor by unanimous decision
Main Card
Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Kyle by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:24 of Round 1
Gilbert Melendez def. Mitsuhiro Ishida by TKO (punches) at 3:56 of Round 3 to retain the Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion
Gegard Mousasi def. Renato "Babalu" Sobral by TKO (punches) at 1:00 of Round 1 to become the new Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos def. Gina Carano by TKO (punches) at 4:59 of Round 1 to become the new Strikeforce Women's Champion
The UFC had made the unexpected decision to bring back old-timer Dennis Hallman after a four-year absence from the organization. Now the UFC has re-signed another hardy veteran, adding a fight between 38-year-old Vladimir Matyushenko and Igor Pokrajac to UFC 103.
A one-time UFC light heavyweight title contender, Matyushenko went 3-2 in the UFC from 2001 to 2003, scoring wins over Yuki Kondo, Travis Wiuff and Pedro Rizzo. Since then, "The Janitor" has gone 9-1, became the IFL Light Heavyweight Champion, and most recently won a decision over Jason Lambert at Call to Arms I in May.
It was also reported that 35-year-old PRIDE and UFC veteran Marcus Aurelio will be returning later this month at UFC 102. Between Matyushenko, Aurelio, Hallman, Ortiz, and the possibility that Chuck Liddell isn't quite retired, it's clear what's going on here: The Ultimate Fighter 11: Last Call. The coaches will be Liddell and Ortiz, the minimum age will be 33, and the winner will receive $100,000 in prescription medication.
Of course, such acquisitions come with a price. UFC middleweight Thales Leites was released from his contract yesterday, following his dull split-decision loss against Alessio Sakara at UFC 101. And to think, he was the number 1 middleweight contender two fights ago; serves him right for trying to use that boring jiu-jitsu stuff. Leites joins Tamdan McCrory, Dan Cramer, and likely George Roop and Danillo Villefort in the sad gentleman's club of UFC fighters who have recently lost their jobs, meaning that every single bout on UFC 101's undercard turned out to be a "win or go home" match.
Four months after his most recent fight, a loss to Shogun Rua at UFC 97, Chuck Liddell is relaxing and enjoying life. But he's not ready to say he's retired.
In an interview Wednesday with FanHouse, Liddell said that he doesn't know if he'll fight again, and he doesn't know when he'll be ready to retire. Liddell wants to determine the future of his career on his own schedule, and he's only going to decide for sure after he gets back in the gym and tests himself again.
Liddell also talked about connecting with the fans, dealing with a Twitter imposter, and his acting career. The full interview is below.
Michael David Smith: Let's start with the question everyone is asking: Will we see you fight again? Chuck Liddell: I don't know. I don't know what my final decision will be. It's hard for an athlete to quit what he's done his whole life. So I don't know. I'm going to make the right decision for me, and that decision could come in a couple months. But we'll see.
Dana White has made it very clear that he doesn't want you to fight. Do you wish he'd keep that opinion to himself and let you make your own decision? He's an opinionated guy. That's how he is. He says what's on his mind, and that's why I like him: You always know what he's thinking. So that doesn't bother me.
What kind of time frame are you working on? If you decide to fight again when will that be, or if you decide to call it quits when would you officially retire? I've always said I'm going to make that decision in the gym, not in the ring. After some time off I'll get back in the gym, throw some punches and take some punches and see how I feel again, and after that I'll make my decision.
You've lost four of your last five. If you do fight again, what do you think you need to work on to start winning again? Well, some things work and some things don't, and for me, the way I was fighting, I was getting hit too much and taking too much damage. Things were hurting me that didn't used to hurt me. So I think I need to work on my timing and my head movement.
What do you think of Tito Ortiz returning to the UFC? It is what it is. He's coming back and doing what he wants to do.
You've already beaten him twice. Would you like to beat him a third time? Well, I always enjoy beating him up, but I don't see that unless he has a few wins. He'd need to have a win or two for that to make sense.
Dana has said he'd like you to be sort of an ambassador for the sport. Is connecting with fans the kind of thing you want to do more of? Yes, for sure. I love the fans and I love the sport, so anything I can help out with in any way, I'm going to. I'm also doing this Sports Legends Challenge, where there are 25 of us sports legends going to the Bahamas and playing some poker with a bunch of fans.
Another question about connecting with fans: Are you on Twitter? No, I'm not.
Are you aware that there's a fake Chuck Liddell on Twitter with more than 11,000 followers? Yeah, I know, and it's ridiculous. People have called me and asked me about my Twitter, and it's not me. I think I'm going to need to take it over or get it taken down or whatever and have an official one so people know if they see something with my name on it, it's coming from me. That's why I got on MySpace, too. There was some guy on there telling people he was me, people were sending e-mails to him and he was replying like he was me, he was telling people I was going to meet them somewhere, he was telling girls to send him pictures.
You mentioned wanting to connect with the fans. Do you see the value of Twitter in doing that? Yeah, I don't do a lot of that -- I don't like the online chats or post on message boards -- but if I get on Twitter I'll tell fans what I'm doing.
What's up with your acting career? I've got some things coming up. I have some meetings next week talking to people about some roles. It's something I enjoy.
Everyone knows you were in Entourage and you've done some other stuff, but you were a child actor long before you were a fighter, right? Yeah, I was in The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jack Nicholson. That was fun. I think I made like $33 or something. I got to miss a whole day of school, and when you're a little kid, that's cool.
What did you think of UFC 101? I thought it was a good show. B.J. Penn and Anderson Silva winning was what I thought would happen, but it was a good show.
What do you make of Anderson Silva? Could he move up and win the light heavyweight belt that you owned for a couple years? Anderson Silva is a tough guy, man. He's dangerous. He's got heavy hands and he's not afraid to throw them. He's a dangerous opponent for anyone.
Are you still watching a lot of MMA even though you're taking some time off from fighting yourself? Absolutely, I watch all the fights I can.
Are you going to do more training of younger fighters? I'll decide that when I make a final decision about whether I'm fighting again. Lately I've been doing other things and haven't had much time to train guys, but that's something I want to do. I like working with younger fighters.
What do you like about coaching? I like the personal interaction. I like working on the finer points, improving the little things that can make a big difference that the younger fighters don't always know about.
When you look at where the UFC is now compared to where it was when you first started fighting, how much more popular it is and how the sport has grown, do you take a lot of personal pride in that? You were one of the best and most popular fighters and you had a lot to do with its growth. I don't know if I'm the one who gets credit, but I'm proud of where the sport is, and I think it's still going to get bigger. It's a great sport and it's going to get a lot bigger than what it is. Mixed martial arts is great, and it's here to stay.
Many say it was his high profile losses to both Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rodgers that drove Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski to play the high risk game of Russian Roulette, a game during which a revolver is loaded with a single round, the cylinder spun, and then placed against the temple. The player pulls the trigger, chancing the bullet could end their life.
"It's when you don't care about anything," stated the 30-year-old Belarusian mixed martial artist to Fighters.com.
But Arlovski's spokesman, Keith Gelman, stressed to a reporter from the website that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion "has never contemplated taking his own life".
All this after two devastating losses -- one to Brett Rodgers at a Strikeforce event in June, the other to Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at an Affliction: Day of Reckoning event in January. After his second loss, Arlovski returned to his home in Belarus to spend time with family and reconsider his future ambitions.
"I cried a lot after my fights, you know. When I lost to Fedor, I cried. When I lost to Rogers, I cried," he stated.
And now, the top ranked fighter says he wants to box, and plans to train with boxing coach Freddie Roach. Arlovski says he plans to debut his boxing career in September or October of this year. As for his future in mixed martial arts...
Just before the curtain is set to draw on their UFC 101: Declaration event tomorrow in Philadelphia, it appears that the promotion has received some of the most distressful news imaginable. Edith Labelle, their most curvaceous UFC's Octagon Girl, will forgo her imperative duties of notifying the fans what round is about to start.
Labelle manager, James Leinhos, confirmed the news to AOL FanHouse late Thursday night.
"Something happened," Leinhos said. "But at this time, I can only confirm that Edith no longer works for the UFC."
Leinhos would not confirm whether the hottie was fired or quit.
No worries UFC fans, the company had already added Natasha Wicks to their talent pool. Wicks won the Maxim Magazine Octagon Girl search during UFC 100 weekend last month. She will make her debut alongside Arianny Celeste and Logan Stanton at UFC 101 on Saturday.
Labelle's profile has since been removed from UFC's official website.
Labelle debuted with the UFC in late 2007 at UFC 78.
For a sneak peak of the UFC's new Octagon Girl, check out the Natasha Wicks gallery at UFC.com.
Meet Norm Turner a.k.a. Satan, the strength and conditioning coach behind Gina Carano! Watch as Satan puts Gina through a series of grueling exercises to test her endurance.
While helping build the hype for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show set to debut in September, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson spoke to Spike TV about the opportunity of fighting for the UFC.
"It means a lot to me to be part of the UFC. It's a chance to become the ultimate fighter. The UFC is as big as it gets," Kimbo said.
While preparing to answer his next question, fellow TUF 10: Heavyweights contender Wes Sims came into the scene to jokingly ask Kimbo for an autograph, perhaps dispelling some of the rumors floating around about the two of them.
Kimbo went on to add, "I still have a lot of things to learn to become a mixed martial artist, but there are a few things I can do in the meanwhile to survive in a fight. My stand up game is still improving."
"The heavyweight competition is tough," Kimbo continued. "There are a lot of big guys that can go to the ground. And with guys their size, they can be dangerous."
Kimbo also humbly admitted that the man he was two years ago wouldn't stand a chance inside the octagon. "A guy coming into this thing with my caliber while I was street fighting would get smashed. You gotta have a feel for so many different things in this sport. It's kinda like a science."
Kimbo also spoke to what his motivation is when it comes to his fight career. "My biggest motivation is the opportunity. And to make tons of money."
At least we know there's still part of the old Kimbo Slice left inside him.
You can see Kimbo, Sims and the rest of the cast for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: Heavyweights when the show makes its premiere September 16th on Spike TV.
Strikeforce and DREAM will announce a partnership that could see an exchange of fighters between the two promotions.
Strikeforce Chief Executive Officer Scott Coker revealed Monday night in a radio appearance on The Carmichael Dave Show that the number two mixed martial arts promotion in the USA will enter into an "alliance" with Fighting Entertainment Group, the parent company of the number one mixed martial arts promotion in Japan.
The partnership could open up new possibilities for the recently-signed Fedor Emelianenko, who had seemingly only Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum as opponents in Strikeforce. Fedor could also find himself fighting in Japan after his fall Strikeforce on Showtime date. The former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion is well-loved in the country and from 2003-2007 took pride in a tradition to compete every New Year's Eve in Japan's annual blockbuster year-end show.
"We've talked about (the partnership) for a long time," Coker said on the Northern California sports program. "It's finally going to happen now so maybe (Sergei) Kharitonov could fight Fedor at some point."
Besides more options for Fedor, there's an entire pool of new opponents for each promotion that could also give a clearer understanding to world rankings outside of the UFC.
The current champions and direct title contenders under DREAM are Joachim Hansen (lightweight champion), Shinya Aoki, Marius Zaromskis (welterweight champion), Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Warren, Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro.
Meanwhile, the champions with Strikeforce are Alistair Overeem (heavyweight), Renato "Babalu" Sobral (light heavyweight), Cung Le (middleweight), Josh Thomson (lightweight), Gilbert Melendez (interim lightweight) and the August 15 winner of Nick Diaz versus Jay Hieron.
The two promotions already share the services of former DREAM Middleweight Champion and current number one Strikeforce light heavyweight title contender Gegard Mousasi, who also happens to be under contract with Fedor's management, M-1 Global.
Coker added that more details on Fedor's future, including the date and opponent, could be announced as early as Thursday.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and interim champion Frank Mir differ in whether a fighter should have respect for an opponent.
Mir, who at times is criticized for overconfidence, said Thursday during the final UFC 101 press conference that he always trains with a healthy respect for his opponent.
"When you lack respect for an opponent, when you take them maybe too casually," Mir said. "I've had errors in my career through overconfidence, through thinking I had nothing to worry about, or you make a mistake and you get caught, especially in a sport like ours where one mistake and you tap, the fight's over with."
There is a point of too much respect as displayed by Georges St. Pierre in his first encounter with Matt Hughes. St. Pierre said at the time he was just "happy to be in the Octagon with him" and the result was a first career loss. St. Pierre won the next two fights and while he continued to hold respect for Hughes, he saw Hughes as an opponent rather than someone he idolized.
Lesnar would take it further. The former WWE superstar flat-out said there is no respect for anyone stepping inside the Octagon against him.
"I don't have any respect for my opponents," Lesnar said. "I guess as soon you respect somebody in my opinion, you're that much close to getting beat. That's just my philosophy that I've trained by for many years."
Lesnar's mental approach to not respect his opponent dates back to his days as an amateur wrestling. A two-time NCAA All-American and the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion, Lesnar finished his collegiate career with a record of 106-5. Maybe his record would be even closer to perfection had he not respected his opponent.
"In the past when I was approaching a tough match or something and I did respect the kid or had some respect for my opponent, I didn't wrestle the way I wanted to and I may have gotten beaten," Lesnar said. "So I discovered very early that I can't have any (respect)."
The UFC is now selling its pay-per-view events online for the first time, and as part of Saturday's UFC 100 event, anyone who makes a purchase on UFC.com will also receive access to the otherwise-un-aired six-fight preliminary card.
UFC 100 takes place this Saturday, July 11, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
To gain access to the preliminary fights, purchases ($44.95 per event) must be made by 10 PM ET (7 PM PT) this Friday, July 10.
UFC 100 is one of the deepest cards in UFC history with three main-event-worthy bouts, including UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs. interim title-holder Frank Mir, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre vs. top contender Thiago Alves, and Michael Bisping vs. fellow coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 9" Dan Henderson.
Prior to UFC 100, Yahoo! Sports was the sole provider of UFC pay-per-view events online.
The UFC didn't clarify whether buyers who qualify for the special will get live access to the preliminary card or whether they'll be able to watch the events after the live main-card portion of the card.
The UFC 100 preliminary card features Mark Coleman vs. Stephan Bonnar, Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller, Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien and other matchups.
One longtime complaint about the UFC's hefty PPV price tags (both online and through traditional cable platforms) is that preliminary-card fights aren't part of the purchase. But for at least one night, it seems, fans will get what they want.
The UFC has signed a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment that will see UFC pay-per-view events available for the first time on Blu-Ray.
Previously there were only two UFC releases on Blu-Ray, "UFC: Ultimate Comebacks" and "UFC: Best of 2008". Anchor Bay will also take over First Look Studios' role as the distributor of UFC DVDs. Navarre remains the exclusive DVD distributor for Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter" television show.
This Saturday's UFC 100 will be one of the first releases later this year.
"Anchor Bay Entertainment is one of the leading distributors of fitness DVDs and has released some of the top independent titles in Hollywood," UFC President Dana White said in a statement. "Working with Anchor Bay, fans can get the most exciting live event in the world on DVD or Blu-Ray, and see the greatest fights ever from UFC."
Hawaii and Indiana have both begun to regulate mixed martial arts this week, boosting the number of states which officially sanction the sport to 39.
Pennsylvania also began regulating MMA in recent months, with Pittsburgh's first event taking place last weekend and the UFC's "Keystone State" debut slated for August 8 with UFC 101 in Philadelphia.
One of the last major holdouts on the list of 11 states which have yet to legalize the sport is New York. Though a bill to regulate MMA is making progress in the state's legislature, it won't be until next year at the earliest until it could be approved with the first UFC event in the state unlikely until 2011.
A UFC event in Indianapolis, Indiana appears most-likely with the new regulation now in place, with an event in Hawaii, the home state of UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn (picture), likely on hold for the time being due to steep taxes and fees that accompany the state's regulation.
Un-sanctioned MMA events have been frequently held in both Indiana and Hawaii in the past, but the official regulation of MMA opens the doors for major promotions such as the UFC and Strikeforce to hold events in the states.
Despite giving up 66.8 pounds in the super-heavyweight bout, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley (picture) ground and pounded his way to victory over former Chicago Bears lineman Bob "The Beast" Sapp at "Ultimate Chaos" Saturday night at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Lashley right away went for the takedown to wear down his 322-pound opponent with punches from Sapp's half guard. Sapp grabbed Lashley's arm to limit Lashley's punches but never attempted to escape to a better position.
Lashley continued working on punches to Sapp's head. A flurry of punches hurt Sapp and the former PRIDE Fighting Championships competitor had to tap in pain. Sapp actually had to tap on two occasions because the referee did not notice it the first time.
Sapp, who once received a broken orbital bone fighting kickboxer Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, received enough punches to impair his vision.
"I got a good shot in the eye and was unable to see," Sapp said. "He got me in the eye. No excuses, He got me down today and controlled it. Give it up to Bobby Lashley."
The fight was called at three minutes and 17 seconds of the opening round.
Lashley explained afterwards why he went against his word that he would stand and box with Sapp.
"The first thing is to win," Lashley said. "Ground and pound to wear the big man down. He has a big punch. I used my ground and pound and got out of there."
In the night's co-main event, Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel won a shot at Paul Buentello at the August 1 Affliction: Trilogy card by defeating Pedro "The Rock" Rizzo. Yvel punished Rizzo for a failed takedown attempt and knocked Rizzo unconscious with right hands to finish the fight.
Here are quick results from the event:
James Orso def. Danny Abbadi by unanimous decision
Brandon Harder def. James Harris by submission (arm triangle choke) at 4:31 of Round 2
Tom Atencio def. Randy Hedderick by TKO (stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
Waachiim Spiritwolf def. Brett Cooper by KO at 3:41 of Round 1
Chris Horodecki def. William Sriyapai by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:02 of Round 1
Javier Vazquez def. Mark Kergosien by submission (guillotine choke) at 0:59 of Round 1
Gilbert Yvel def. Pedro Rizzo by KO (punches) at 2:10 of Round 1
Bobby Lashley def. Bob Sapp by submission (punches) at 3:17 of Round 1
UFC President Dana White recently made news by announcing that he was working to re-sign former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort and instantly speculation began to run rampant in regards to a possible first opponent for Belfort if the signing comes to fruition.
One name that keeps popping up is no stranger to Belfort as Vitor's lightning quick knockout victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil back in 1998 is among the biggest wins of his career.
According to Silva (picture) in a recent interview with Sensei Sport TV, Belfort was seriously stressing out before his first fight with "The Axe Murderer". If that was the case it would definitely work in Wanderlei's favor if Belfort came into the potential rematch much more relaxed.
"That sequence of punches, I don't know whether that was technique or anxiety," speculated Silva. "Many people told me he was dying of fear to face me so that must have been anxiety (that drove him)."
Both men formerly made their home at 205 pounds before recently making the mutual decision to drop down to middleweight so a potential bout between the two would likely come at 185 pounds. Although Silva knows nothing is set in stone at this time, if the call comes, he'll be ready, as usual.
"Sooner or later (the rematch) is going to happen," said Silva. "I'm ready to face anyone, including him."
One loss was all it took for the UFC to hand Mike Ciesnolevicz a.k.a. Mike C his walking papers.
The 29-year-old out of Team Miletich has been let go after a four-month stint with UFC. Ciesnolevicz (17-4) compiled a 1-1 record as a member of the UFC organization.
Ciesnolevicz in February received a call to move up to heavyweight on short notice to fight Neil Grove at UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson in London. Ciesnolevicz submitted Grove in 63 seconds with a heel hook and it appeared the former International Fight League fighter found a new home with the UFC. But his loss in a light heavyweight bout to Tomasz Drwal last Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale and perhaps his failure to make weight -- he was the only fighter on the card to not make weight -- was apparently enough to bring about his release.
Mike C was the light heavyweight for the Pat Miletich's Quad Cities Silverbacks squad in the IFL from 2006 through 2008.
It might just be time for mixed martial arts fans to mark July 11 completely off their calendars.
Spike TV today announced it will air a five-hour marathon of the upcoming series "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" prior to the July 11 pay-per-view start of UFC 100, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The series, which will count down the bouts fans select as the top 100 UFC fights of all-time, debuts July 5 on Spike TV at 9 PM ET/PT.
While the first episode of "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" airs on a Sunday, subsequent episodes of the series will air in the same timeslot on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The final episode, along with a re-air of the previous four episodes, will air simultaneously on Spike's East and West Coast feeds in the five hours leading into UFC 100.
Fan voting for the UFC's greatest 100 fights, chosen among a list of 181 candidates selected by Spike TV and the UFC, began May 1 and is currently ongoing at spike.com/ufc-100.
Containing fights dating back to Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock at UFC 1, the list was recently supplemented by the addition of this past Saturday's The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale main event between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida.
Voters can comment on each of the 181 fights on Spike TV's website and rank each bout from one octagon for a "standard" contest to 10 octagons for an "epic" clash.
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin's "Got Fight?" book debuted this week at number eight on the New York Times' Hardcover Advice Best Seller List.
"Got Fight?" was published June 2 but the latest New York Times list for the June 28 print edition ranks sales for the week ending June 13.
Written with Erich Krauss, Griffin disperses the "50 Zen principles of hand-to-face combat", including how to defend yourself against a dog and a sword attack.
Griffin joins Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture as former UFC champions who have penned a New York Times Best Seller. Unlike the other books though, don't expect to learn too much about Griffin's fight career. "Got Fight?" reads more like a humor book than an autobiography.
Next up for the season one winner of The Ultimate Fighter is a light heavyweight scrap with middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 101: Declaration on August 8 in Philadelphia.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will likely host two major events in November. One on Spike TV and one on pay-per-view on back-to-back weekends.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently updated its online calendar, showing the UFC had formally requested a November 21 event date at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Additionally, multiple sources have told the Vegas event, UFC 106, will likely follow a November 14 UFC 105 event, a show expected to take place in the UK, possibly Manchester, that would air on Spike TV.
UFC 105 would air on free basic cable and help promote the following week's pay-per-view offering.
No fights rumored of official are set for either card, though UFC 105 will likely be heavy on European talent and could feature in the main event British fighter Michael Bisping as well as recent The Ultimate Fighter 9 winners Ross Pearson and James Wilks. Bisping is slated to fight Dan Henderson next month at UFC 100. UFC President Dana White has hinted that Bisping could earn a title shot with current champion Anderson Silva if he defeats Henderson.
Although far from official, a Silva vs. Bisping UFC 105 headliner on basic cable could surely be a ratings hit and be a major draw for UK fans.
The back-to-back November cards would then be followed just two weeks later by The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, which concludes the currently in-production heavyweights-only season of the UFC's reality series. TUF 10 features notables such as Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and Roy Nelson and NFL veteran Marcus Jones, and the finale takes place in Las Vegas at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort on December 5.
Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of consensus number one heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, has signed to meet Blagoi Ivanov on September 29 for the upstart Fighter Mania Championship (FMC) promotion in Seoul, South Korea.
Ivanov is most notable for defeating Fedor last November at the 2008 World Combat Sambo Championships in Russia. Fighting in the over 100 kg division, Ivanov outpointed Fedor 8 to 5 in the semifinals and advanced to take home the gold medal in the Sambo final. Fedor, who came into the tournament as champion for three straight years, left with bronze.
Combat Sambo is a popular Russian sport which combines throws with limited striking and submissions.
Ivanov, the Bulgarian wrestler, also recently signed with the World Victory Road to make his mixed martial arts debut on August 2 against Kazuyuki Fujita at Sengoku 8.
Aleksander (15-3) is currently on a six-fight win streak.
UFC President Dana White made a surprising revelation Saturday that he would like to see former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort take on current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.
White teased the matchup on the "Inside The Octagon" segment during The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale broadcast on Spike TV.
"While Anderson Silva is fighting Forrest Griffin, I'm working on some other 185-pounders," White told host Amir Sadollah. "Vitor Belfort, he is a former heavyweight who moved down to 205. Now he's at 185 pounds, he's got great hands, he's good on the ground and if his head is right he can be a very dangerous guy. I think that would be a great match up."
It's surprising White would even bring up Belfort's name since the Brazilian is currently signed to fight Jorge Santiago at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1. Does White have something under his sleeve? Or will there simply be a massive bidding war between the UFC and Affliction after Belfort's fight on August 1?
Tuff-N-Uff will present the Las Vegas' first all-female mixed martial arts card at the Orleans Arena at 8 PM on Saturday, July 10. Featuring 24 fighters, each with a unique fighting background, "Tuff Girls" will be headlined by Barb Honchak and Las Vegan Meegan Thomas (picture) who will fight in the 125-pound weight class for the Tuff Girl Belt.
The announcement of this event also marks the 15th anniversary of Tuff-N-Uff's first event. June 18, 1994 Tuff-N-Uff hosted an amateur kickboxing event in Chicago, Illinois.
With diverse backgrounds and coming from all facets of life, these female athletes have proven their MMA skills in the amateur ranks. Fighting in the main event, Barb Honchak has compiled an impressive record of 6-1, while her opponent Meegan Thomas is undefeated with three wins under her belt. The other bouts will feature battles in weight classes ranging from 105 pounds to the 170 pounds.
Taking place the night before the biggest event in MMA history, UFC 100, "Tuff Girls" will showcase amateur women fighters who may one day rival professional fighters like Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. Other former Tuff-N-Uff fighters who have turned professional include Jon Fitch and Aaron Riley.
Tickets for the event are on sale now for $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the fight. Tickets may be purchased by calling 702.284.7777, online at www.orleansarena.com or in person at the Orleans Arena box office located at 4500 West Tropicana Avenue at Arville Road.
Two long-awaited fights, Gina Carano (picture) vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson, will happen at Strikeforce on August 15.
Strikeforce announced the fights during Saturday's "Lawler vs. Shields" broadcast on Showtime.
Fans have been asking for Carano (7-0) to meet Santos (7-1) since the two began to make their mark in women's MMA through the EliteXC promotion. Santos has won her last seven fights. Santos last victory was over Hitomi Akano in April, in a fight where she came in seven pounds overweight. Carano's fight was a unanimous decision over Kelly Kobald at EliteXC: Heat last October on CBS.
Josh Thomson (16-2) won the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship over Gilbert Melendez (14-2) but has yet to defend it due to injuries. They were scheduled to meet in April, but Thomson suffered a broken leg. Melendez won the interim title at the event and he'll receive his chance to unify the titles in August.
Former trainer/manager for UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is striking back at former champion Tito Ortiz (picture) for calling him a "thief". Juanito Ibarra claims that Ortiz' comments have caused emotional distress through defamation and invasion of privacy according to TMZ.
Here's an excerpt of what Ortiz had said about Ibarra this past September:
"Let me explain this to you because it really pisses me off that Ibarra has done what he has done, he is a thief. I have been running training camps for seven years up in Big Bear California and the most that my camp has cost a fighter to attend is $35,000. Ibarra was charging Jackson $65,000 to go to Big Bear. I don't understand that!! He was being very disrespectful and taking advantage of 'Rampage'. Including travel, training partners, food and lodging, the most ever was $35,000, maybe if you flew in more trainers...$40K. Where did that extra money go that Ibarra was charging?"
Not only is Ibarra going after Ortiz, he's also suing the media who reported the story which helped spread Ortiz' comments throughout the Internet.
There's no doubt that after what Ortiz had said, followed by Jackson leaving Ibarra that he's probably struggling to get clients into his camp. We don't know how much Ibarra is suing for and which MMA websites he has targeted.
Meanwhile, Tito Ortiz is free to receive an offer from any promotion without having to reveal the offer to the UFC beginning this weekend.
Ortiz's contract with the UFC ended last year when he lost against Lyoto Machia at UFC 84 on May 24. Although Ortiz was allowed to negotiate with other promotions, the UFC retained the right to match any offer until June 5, 2009.
A press conference was held yesterday in Tokyo by World Victory Road to announce the signing of 2008 Olympic gold medalist in Judo Satoshi Ishii for the promotion. Previously signing with the UFC is reported to have no impact on Ishii's negotiations with WVR to appear in their Sengoku events.
The 22-year-old judoka had been sought out by the other major mixed martial arts promotion in Japan, DREAM as well as the UFC.
Ishii accepted an invitation from the UFC last December to meet UFC President Dana White and experience UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. White said Ishii has the potential to become a great MMA fighter.
Ishii appeared at first willing to put aside his celebrity in Japan to compete in the UFC. But by signing with World Victory Road, Ishii picks the safest and richest choice to begin his MMA career.
It was previously reported on several sources that Ishii was set to appear on the tenth season of the popular Spike television series, The Ultimate Fighter. Ishii's Facebook page appeared to confirm that rumor yet now, this signing may not allow the Japanese fighter to do both. It is important to note that he has a clause in his new 2-year contract allowing him to fight for other promotions outside of Japan and Ishii has previously indicated a desire to fight in the UFC late last year.
"I have finally made up my mind," Ishii told Nikkan Sports in December. "The UFC is where I want to fight."
Time will tell where he really makes his MMA debut. WVR Director Takahiro Kokuho believes Ishii's first fight for the promotion can come as early as August 2 and as late as the New Year's Eve event at the end of the year.
In any case, for WVR and Japanese MMA in general, this signing might mark a significant turning point in their campaign to get back on network television. With WVR and DREAM alike staging strong events, fans may see a resurgence of MMA in the once PRIDE-dominated country.
Since leaving Judo with his eyes set on MMA, Ishii has been traveling around putting in mat time with current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, the American Top Team and Xtreme Couture.
Fresh off of his first round submission victory over heavyweight Mark Hunt at DREAM 9 event, former DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi confirmed that his next fight will be against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort at Affliction 3 on August 1.
Prior to his win over Hunt, Mousasi (25-2-1) last competed on K-1 and DREAM's co-promoted K-1 DYNAMITE!! 2008 back on New Year's Eve. He TKO'd Musashi in the first round of their kickboxing bout.
Mousasi's last mixed martial arts tussle came in September when he put Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to sleep in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix Finals. With the victory, Mousasi became the first ever middleweight champion of the organization.
Since exiting the UFC over four years ago, Belfort (18-8) had struggled to find his hold form. He dropped three of his next five, however has rebouded nicely to take his last four.
Belfort tells Brazilian MMA magazine TATAME that he would face Mousasi only at middleweight. Belfort has been very successful as a middleweight, winning both of his Affliction fights with devastating knockouts over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland.
Mousasi, who will be making his US debut at the event, extended his win streak to ten with his submission win at DREAM 9 against Hunt in the opening round of the Super Hulk Tournament. Outweighed by 68.4 pounds, Mousasi took Hunt to the mat and snatched an arm for the kimura. Mousasi will face either Ikuhisa Minowa, Hong Man Choi or Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou after the Belfort fight.
As expected, at the UFC 98 post-event press conference, UFC President Dana White announced that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida's first title defense will be against former champion, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (picture). While White didn't announce the date for the title defense, if recent rumors of Rampage and Machida coaching season ten of The Ultimate Fighter are true, then the fight would take place in late December.
Both Machida and Jackson were fighting for the World Fighting Alliance when Zuffa bought the company out in December 2006.
"We bought the WFA to acquire his contract and Rampage's," White noted at the press conference. "I've always thought this kid (Machida) was talented."
"I was blown away by his performance tonight," White continued. "Absolutely blown away."
The UFC, in conjunction with Tequila Cazadores, awarded former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin the first ever UFC Authentic Spirit Award. Tequila Cazadores is the official spirit sponsor of the UFC.
The award will be given to a UFC fighter monthly who exemplifies social responsibility, dedication to their art of mixed martial arts and good sportsmanship.
Griffin was announced as the recipient by UFC President Dana White at a media event held by the UFC, Tequila Cazadores and THQ at Tabu in the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.
Griffin was given the award for his work with the Wounded Warriors Project. The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors.
Griffin actively enlists his time and energy to raise awareness for the needs of severely injured servicemen and women and supports them on the road to healing both physically and mentally.
For winning the award, Tequila Cazadores will make a $1,000 donation in Forrest Griffin's name to the Wounded Warrior Project. Each month, Tequila Cazadores will award a fighter with the UFC Authentic Spirit Award, culminating with a larger award given to the fighter that best exemplifies all the parameters through the course of the year.
A $10,000 charitable contribution will be presented to the winner with full proceeds benefiting the fighter's charity of choice.
The UFC will return to California for the first time in over two years on October 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The UFC's last trip to California was on September 22, 2007 at UFC 76 at the Honda Center in Anaheim and the last time the UFC was at the Staples Center was on May 27, 2006 for UFC 60, headlined by then UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes taking on UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie at a catchweight of 175 pounds.
The Staples Center is home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Kings.
Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley made quick work of Mike Cook at Maximum Fighting Championship 21: Hard Knocks Friday in Alberta, Canada. Lashley dismantled the Californian fighter in just 24 seconds.
Cook came to the ring wearing a pro wrestling lucha libre mask while taunting Lashley with popular WWE poses. Lashley was annoyed, denying Cook of a glove touch seconds before the start of the fight. As soon as the bell rang, Lashley charged at Cook and applied a guillotine choke. Lashley held on to the guillotine choke and took Cook to the ground, forcing Cook to go limp. Referee "Big" John McCarthy called the fight off just 24 seconds into Round 1.
His opponent, Mike Cook, didn't have any major wins on his record. Cook also lost to former WWE Tough Enough contender Daniel Puder by a rear naked choke.
In the post fight interview, Lashley stated, "Now he can put back on the mask and have fun with himself."
The former WWE US Champion and ECW Champion improved his MMA record to 3-0, but it's apparent that his pro wrestling background will stick with him for quite some time.
Lashley doesn't have much time to rest, as his next challenge is just around the corner in MMA veteran Bob Sapp on June 27 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
MMA Big Show has signed a deal with Goliath Productions and AMG Networks for the regional promotion to be televised in syndication nationally and internationally.
Two-hour specials and 13 half-hour episodes are slated to begin airing in the fall.
"We are starting out by airing some of our historical fights such as Mojo Horne vs. Josh Haynes, which was a banger, then move to airing our new matchups starting from our March and April events while aiming towards live two-hour specials," said promoter Jason Appleton.
MMA Big Show will release the full TV schedule for each market on its website at MMABigShow.com.
Strikeforce middleweight Phil Baroni and Jeff Piecoro of Fox Sports are commentators for the promotion.
Yesterday, the UFC announced it has partnered with Grapplers Quest to host the first ever UFC sponsored grappling tournament.
Held in conjunction with the historic UFC 100 event, the tournament will be held on July 10 and 11 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the previously announced UFC Fan Expo.
Open to the first 1,500 registered competitors, the announcement stated the UFC expects the event to "be the largest submission, grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in history".
The Grapplers Quest event will award "thousands of dollars in prizes" across multiple divisions that include men, women and children from all skill levels.
Registration is currently open for the event. Entry fees start at $89 to register in one division and include a free two-day pass to the UFC Fan Expo – a $50 value.
The tournament schedule includes all adult, no-gi divisions and superfights on Friday, July 10, while all children, teen and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu divisions will be contested on Saturday, July 11.
Grapplers Quest held its first event in 1997, the first ever submission grappling tournament contested in the US. Current UFC fighters Mark Bocek, Kenny Florian, Matt Hughes, Denis Kang, Eliot Marshall, Mike Massenzio, Kurt Pellegrino, Matt Riddle and Brandon Vera have all competed in previous editions of Grapplers Quest.
The Grapplers Quest tournament is the latest addition to the UFC Fan Expo's growing two-day lineup of events. The organization has also planned meet-and-greets with several current and historic stars of ZUFFA-owned organizations as well as mixed martial arts demonstrations and training sessions.
UFC light heavyweight fighter Houston "The Assassin" Alexander rescued a child left alone inside an unlocked car in Omaha, Nebraska, last Wednesday according to Omaha's NBC network affiliate, WOWT-TV.
Alexander, who spotted the four-year-old girl crying inside a Chevy Lumina, attended to her by leading her on a search for her guardian. The heavy puncher first took her into a dialysis center before finding the girl's mother at the next door plasma center.
The mother was reported to the Child Protective Services and cited for misdemeanor child neglect.
Alexander out of Omaha, has another heroic story. The father of six carries a scar on his stomach from donating his kidney nine years ago to his daughter.
Alexander recently withdrew from his UFC 98 bout on May 23 against Andre Gusmao due to an injured hand.
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture knows what Chuck Liddell is currently going through. He knows what it feels like to have the UFC push him into retirement. The only difference is that Couture was never as close to UFC President Dana White as Liddell is and that really is the problem according to Couture.
"It's like, 'you're not going to fight for the UFC again, because we don't want to see you do this anymore.' That sucks." Couture said.
The talk is about Liddell's age and declining ability but Couture attributes Liddell's recent losses to something else. "He's got that kind of style anyway, that's the fighter he's always been. We're just used to seeing him on the other side of it – landing the shot instead of taking the shot."
Couture does hope that its ultimately Liddell's decision at the end but that people he's spoken to who are close to the Liddell situation told him, "I know he's struggling with the decision, he's being pressured, and he's not sure that's what he wants to do."
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, was victorious Saturday at Jungle Fight in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.
Interestingly, it was Nogueira's first fight in Brazil. Nogueira has fought in Japan, Canada and USA but had previously never competed in his home country.
Nogueira took on 30-year-old striker Dion Staring in the main event and submitted the Golden Glory fighter with a triangle choke in the third round.
Nogueira improved to 17-3, while Staring fell to 15-6.
Nogueira was coming off a knockout win over Vladimir Matyushenko in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning and the win over Staring extended his win streak to five.
Although former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort is slated to take on Rich Franklin at UFC 103 on September 19, he's already looking forward to a potential showdown with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.
